Late
by tvfreak13
Summary: "I'm late." Caleb was confused. "No you're not. Your curfew's midnight," he said chuckling and pointing to the digital clock in his car that read 10:12 p.m. She rolled her eyes at his stupidity and her annoyance suppressed her nervousness for a split second. Of course she knew the time. "No Caleb I'm late…," she said again with more emphasis and then added "...for my period."


**Disclaimer: I do not own PLL.**

* * *

Hanna and Caleb were having dinner with Spencer and Toby on a bright May evening at Rosewood's newest Italian restaurant. Recently, the couples had been going out on double dates as a newfound bromance was brewing between Caleb and Toby.

They had just ordered their dinner when Spencer asked, "Han, will you come to the bathroom with me?"

"Yeah," the blonde said getting up from her seat just as the brunette did.

As the girls were about to walk off to the bathroom Toby playfully asked the age old question, "Why do girls have to go to the bathroom with each other all the time, Spence?"

"Accept it, Toby. It's what we do," Spencer replied smiling.

"They probably want to talk about how hot we are Toby. You know, compare notes on us," Caleb added cockily.

"Yeah a heated argument has been brewing between us about which one of you has better abs," Hanna sarcastically replied without missing a beat, rolling her eyes at him.

Thinking it would be fun to mess with the guys Spencer said, "Actually I was going to ask Hanna for a tampon while we were in there but since you guys don't seem to mind I'll do it now." The boys winced as she turned to Hanna and asked, "Do you have a tampon I can use?"

Amused, she replied, "Why yes I do Spencer." She pulled one out of her purse and handed it to her. Grinning as the guys now looked super uncomfortable by just the word tampon. Guys were just too easy to mess with when it came to things like this.

"Thanks, It's flowin' like a river down there, Han," Spencer added, fueling the fire. At this point Caleb nearly choked on his drink and Toby was blushing a deep shade of red.

"And changing the subject right about now…," Caleb began.

"You guys are such babies," Hanna said, leaving the boys alone to follow Spencer into the bathroom.

Once they were both in the bathroom in respective stalls Spencer muttered, "Thanks Han you're a lifesaver," in reference to her giving her a tampon.

"No problem." Hanna then started to absentmindedly wonder when she would be due for her period. She hadn't had it in a while and knew it should be coming soon. That's why she had tampons in her purse. She mentally started calculating dates in her head. Hmm… she knew she had it last at Emily's birthday party. Emily's birthday was April 24th, but they'd had a party for her the weekend after. That Saturday? Or was it Friday? What was the date anyway? Hanna was starting to freak out a bit. She was hardly ever late for her period. Or hadn't been in a long time at least. It usually came every four weeks to the day.

"Um… what's the date Spencer?," she asked nervously when they were washing their hands.

"May 28th," Spencer replied automatically.

"Shit," Hanna muttered after doing some math in her head. Was she calculating wrong? Hanna had never been good at math. If Emily's party was on the 27th, like she thought, then she should have gotten her period on May 25th, which was three days ago. She thought about it some more, but that made her even more sure that she was late.

"What?," Spencer asked concerned. Hanna had lost all the color in her face and was looking at the floor. All energy she had before they walked into the bathroom was now gone.

"I think I'm late," she whispered, looking up to meet Spencer's eyes.

"Oh Hanna...," she said sympathetically. "How late are you?"

"A couple of days… I think. I'm not really sure," Hanna muttered. She couldn't be pregnant. Her and Caleb had always had safe sex. She was on birth control. They'd used condoms. This couldn't be happening…

"You need to take a test," Spencer, her voice of reason said, interrupting her thoughts.

"I know."

They were silent for a few moments before another woman walked in. "I can be there when you do it… if you want," Spencer whispered, keeping her voice down since they were no longer alone.

Hanna was freaking out. Her brain didn't really even register Spencer's offer. She was too busy thinking about what Caleb's reaction would be. Her mind was racing. What would he say when she told him she was pregnant? What would her mom say? Hanna was already starting to feel ashamed just thinking about it all. She would be the center of Rosewood gossip, that's for sure. She would be fat again. She had no idea how to raise a child. She didn't think abortion was right, but she was now understanding why many girls considered it. But adoption? She couldn't even imagine giving up her child, Caleb's child.

She realized she was getting a little ahead of herself though. She wasn't absolutely certain that she was pregnant since she hadn't taken a test. But things weren't looking good. "Do you think I should tell Caleb now or when I know whether I am or am not for sure?," she asked, her voice desperate with worry.

"I think it's up to you," Spencer said softly, rubbing her shoulder. "What do you want to do?," Spencer prompted after Hanna was silent for a few more moments.

"I don't know. I can't really think now," her head was starting to hurt and she felt nauseous thinking about it all.

"Hey, we don't have to go finish dinner. We can say that you don't feel good and you can go home if you want," Spencer offered. Her friend was clearly freaking out.

"No. I don't know how I want to handle this yet. And I don't want Caleb to worry. Let's get back out there," she said pushing the door open before Spencer could say anything else.

Hanna and Spencer sat back down at the table, where Caleb and Toby were engaged in a discussion about which type of sports car would be better to own.

"What took you so long, babe?," Caleb asked Hanna after they sat down.

"Did you really just ask that Caleb?," Toby cut in thinking about the conversation before the girls left for the bathroom. "I'm sure we don't want to know."

"Yeah, trust me Caleb. You don't want to know," Spencer added, slightly amused by her double meaning. Hanna shot her a quick death glare across the table even though she knew that Caleb wouldn't pick up on anything.

Caleb grabbed Hanna's hand affectionately underneath the table as they waited for their food to arrive. She pulled it away instinctively though. He gave her a confused look, but Hanna avoided eye contact. She didn't want to get lost in those eyes right now. They were the reason she was in the mess she was in now in the first place. But realizing that Caleb was now confused as to why she pulled her hand away, she picked up her water and took a drink, and then took his hand in hers again, as if that's what she meant to do in the first place. She couldn't let him think something was up. She looked up and smiled at him briefly.

Spencer, Toby, and Caleb kept a steady conversation going throughout dinner, mostly talking about the upcoming end to the school year and their summer plans. Hanna, however, remained practically silent. She could not take her mind off anything besides her possible pregnancy. Different scenarios about the future and theoretical conversations about a baby clouded her mind. She was too stressed too eat, and picked at her food, hoping that no one besides Spencer would notice.

But Caleb did start to notice Hanna's behavior, as she was much quieter than before. "You okay?," he whispered to her discretely when Spencer and Toby were busy talking about something else.

"I'm fine," she murmured, but she could tell he wasn't buying it. She made a mental note to participate in the conversation more. The dinner was really dragging on for her though and she couldn't wait for it to be over.

"You can have some of this if you want," Caleb said referring to his lasagna. He noticed she wasn't really eating and wondered if it was because she didn't like what she ordered.

"No thanks," she murmured giving him a smile that Caleb knew was fake.

* * *

After dinner was over, Caleb was driving Hanna home. She was quiet and nervously picked at her fingernails, debating whether or not she wanted to bring up the pregnancy thing.

"Tonight was fun," Caleb commented.

"Yeah."

"What did you think of the restaurant?," he asked, trying to start a conversation.

"It was nice," she said without elaborating.

"Toby and I were talking about going bowling this weekend." Hanna didn't say anything. "Do you think we could take down Team Spoby?," he questioned, shifting his eyes toward her and smirking.

"Uh, yeah," Hanna said unenthusiastically as she was lost in thought, not really listening to anything he was saying.

Caleb sighed. He didn't know what was up with her. She was her normal energetic, bubbly self at the beginning of the night. On the whole ride to the restaurant she wouldn't shut up about what she thought of last night's episode of _Keeping Up with the Kardashinans_. He couldn't pinpoint anything that would have explained her sudden change in demeanor.

Pulling up to her house and stopping the car, he turned to her and asked, "Are you sure you're okay?"

No. She was definitely not okay and she knew that he knew that. Deciding to tell him before he forced it out of her, she sighed and told him, "I'm late."

Caleb was confused. "No you're not. Your curfew's midnight," he said chuckling and pointing to the digital clock in his car that read 10:12 p.m.

She rolled her eyes at his stupidity and her annoyance suppressed her nervousness for a split second. Of course she knew the time. "No Caleb I'm _late_…," she said again with more emphasis and then added "…for my period" to be clear.

Caleb's eyes got wide. "Oh." Hanna's behavior was starting to make a little more sense. But Caleb forced himself to think logically before he let himself become scared shitless. It was pretty clear that Hanna was freaking out. She looked like she was about to cry. She was late. That didn't necessarily mean she was pregnant, did it? "What does that mean?"

"Did you miss that day of sex-ed?," Hanna muttered sarcastically.

"Right," he said now feeling stupid. "I mean…how late?"

"A couple days."

"Okay." Caleb was silent. Hanna waited for him to say something else. Anything he was feeling was not clear on his face. She couldn't read what he was thinking and that was starting to scare her.

"Well have you ever been late before?," he asked. He was still hopeful that she wasn't actually pregnant.

She thought about it for a second. "Um, yeah…. But not since I've been having sex with you," she said quietly.

"I thought you were on the pill," Caleb questioned thinking about how this could have happened. It came out a little harsher than he meant it to. He couldn't recall a time when they didn't have safe sex.

"I am," Hanna responded, now feeling defensive. "Don't make me feel like this is all my fault."

"Sorry," he said feeling guilty. "What do you wanna do?"

"I don't know." Hanna knew she needed to take a pregnancy test, but she wanted to live in denial, at least for a little while. Once the test confirmed it everything would get really real.

"I mean should we go get a test now or…?" Unlike Hanna, Caleb was eager to know for sure. And he vowed not to think about what they would do if she was pregnant until after she took a test. He was still holding on to the hope that she wasn't. After all, she had been late before. One of them needed to stay calm and think rationally for the time being and he could already tell it wasn't going to be Hanna.

"Um, yeah, I guess," she agreed reluctantly.

Caleb pulled back out of Hanna's driveway and headed towards the nearest drugstore that would be open. He was about to turn into a Walgreens in Rosewood, but Hanna stopped him. "Caleb no. Someone we know might see us. Get on the freeway and take the first exit and we'll look for a place there."

"Kay," he agreed, seeing her point and driving a little faster now. He just wanted to know already and it seemed like Hanna wanted to postpone it.

After they found another drugstore outside of Rosewood, Caleb parked the car and took off his seatbelt. He looked over at Hanna in the passenger seat, who hadn't moved an inch since they parked. "Are you coming?," he asked, about to open his door. She didn't say anything. Growing impatient he said softly, "You know what, you don't have to come in. I'll do it." And she didn't argue with him.

Caleb's eyes scanned through the available pregnancy tests at the store. There had to be at least ten different brands there. He decided to grab one that he saw an ad for on TV and hoped it was a good brand. The disapproving glare from the old lady ringing him out made him feel extremely guilty again. Caleb, not one to be religious, said a mental prayer that Hanna wasn't pregnant. Dear God he wasn't ready to be a father, and it's not like he'd ever had a strong male role model to guide him through this.

Caleb returned to the car to see Hanna in the same spot, looking like she had barely moved an inch, completely paralyzed with fear.

"Let's go to your place to do this because my mom's home," Hanna said quietly when he began driving.

Neither of them said anything else for the twenty minute drive back to Caleb's apartment.

* * *

When they reached Caleb's apartment and he closed the door, Hanna weakly asked, "What are we going to do?"

Caleb wasn't even going to go there. "Hanna, we don't even know if you're pregnant yet."

"Well what if I am?," she said with pleading eyes. "Things aren't looking that great right now."

"We'll cross that bridge when – if – we come to it." He kissed her forehead. "Can you please go take the test now?," he said calmly, handing the bag with the test in it to her.

She didn't take it from him though and shook her head 'no.'

"Why not?" Caleb was starting to get frustrated with her.

"Because I'm scared," she muttered. "I need you to tell me what we're going to do if I am," she said in a shaky voice, her pleading eyes begging for a concrete answer from him.

Caleb could see her fear and knew she needed to hear something reassuring. He struggled to find words. "Honestly…" he took a deep breath, trying to decide what to say. "…I don't know. But I'm not going to leave if that's what you're thinking," he added quickly, and rubbing the top of one of her hands with his thumb. Caleb knew she had abandonment issues stemming from her own father and the fact that his father left him also probably played up her fears.

"I wasn't thinking that," she told him sincerely.

"Good." He gave her a half-hearted smile, glad that she had faith that he wouldn't leave when things got rough. After all, he told her that he would never leave her on multiple occasions.

"Why aren't you freaking out more right now?," she asked him.

"Because I think you're freaked out enough for the both of us. And we don't even know for sure yet." He was trying to remain logical and not jump to the worst case scenarios. "Will you please just take the test now?" He was growing anxious and impatient with her.

"I don't want to," she whispered.

"Hanna! Just do it already! Please?" She flinched a little when she heard his tone.

"Don't yell at me," she said pulling away from his touch, now getting angry at his attitude. It was his fault they were in their situation in the first place. Alright, maybe it was both of their faults…

"Okay. I'm sorry." Now Caleb felt bad again. He tried to reason with her. "I just kinda think we need to know for sure, but if you're not ready yet…"

"Ugh, dammit Caleb. I'll do it," she moaned, grabbing the bag out of his hand and stalking off towards the bathroom. Now he was making her feel guilty.

She opened the box with shaky hands and read the directions which were simple enough – pee on the stick and wait five minutes for a plus or minus sign. Taking a deep breath she pulled her pants and underwear down.

And she let out a huge sigh relief when she saw a few drops of red in her underwear. She just got her period. She wasn't pregnant. Never in her life was she so happy to get her period!

Reemerging from the bathroom a minute later, she found Caleb sitting down on the couch, bending over with his hands buried in his face. He was definitely freaking out now.

He sat up when he heard her coming. She went over and sat on his lap and hugged him. "I'm not pregnant," she told him smiling.

He wrapped his arms around her back, holding her close. "I thought you had to wait like five minutes," he asked, wanting to be absolutely sure she knew what she was talking about.

"Uh, I didn't even take the test because I got my period." She buried her face in his chest, feeling relieved and emotionally drained.

"Oh. Thank God," he murmured into her hair.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have made you worry too when there was no reason to be." She felt guilty for letting him get freaked out too. She should have just waited and he never would have had to know about any of this.

"You were right to tell me," he said rubbing her back. "If you were pregnant the baby would be just as much of a responsibility for me as it would be for you."

"I was so scared," she said again.

"I know," he answered soothingly, rubbing her back.

"Are we okay?," he asked her after a minute or two passed. He still felt bad for yelling at her and there was some obvious tension between them earlier in the night.

"Yeah. We're okay," she told him with her head still buried in his chest.

They stayed that way for a while – holding each other – before Caleb realized he needed to leave soon to get Hanna home before her curfew. "I should take you home. Wouldn't want you to be late a second time tonight," he said smirking, thinking he was funny.

Hanna looked at him with a 'did you seriously just saw that' face.

"Too soon?"

"Yeah," she responded. She didn't want to think about being late for a long time, that was for sure.

* * *

**Thanks for reading! Tell me what you thought in a review! Was it good, bad, funny, realistic? Did you want Hanna to actually be pregnant? Should I add more Spoby in my stories? Tell me!**


End file.
